Adoptions, 2011

After several decades of a relatively stable level of adoption, with an annual average of over 850, 2006 was the start of a sharp decline. This was due to inter-country adoptions, which had seen a steady increase from the late 1960s until 2000, falling from 600-700 to 300 per year. The number of inter-country adoptions in 2011 is the lowest since the late 1970s. Step-children adoptions peaked in the period 1976-1980, subsequently falling until the mid 1990s to between 100 and 240 per year.

A total of 297 children were adopted from abroad in 2011. Of these, the majority came from Colombia (24 per cent) and China (22 per cent). Between 2000 and 2010, most children adopted from abroad were from China. The second most popular country for adoption in this period was Colombia, and prior to that South Korea.

Overall, there were almost as many boys as girls adopted from abroad in 2011. The gender breakdown varies from country to country among the 10 countries with the most adoptions. This is purely random due to the relatively low numbers each year. Among the adopted children who previously held Chinese citizenship, almost 6 out of 10 were girls, while the corresponding figure for South Korea was 1 in 6. Almost as many boys as girls were adopted from Colombia. In the last five years (2007-2011), almost 3 out of 4 children adopted from China were girls, while fewer than 3 in 10 from South Korea were girls, and just over half of the children from Colombia were boys. Of those adopted in 2011, 62 per cent were under 3 years of age.

In relation to the population, the counties of Hordaland, Akershus and Oslo had the highest number of inter-country adoptions per 100 000 inhabitants as an annual average between 2007 and 2011. Hedmark, Vestfold, Telemark and Nord-Trøndelag had the least.

Also among step-children adoptions there were roughly the same number of boys as girls in 2011, but these were older than the children adopted from abroad. Twenty-six per cent were under 3 years of age, 32 per cent were aged 3-17 and 42 per cent were 18 years or older. Approximately 2 in 3 were adopted by their step-father. The counties of Oslo (26), Akershus (17) and Hordaland (16) had the highest numbers of step-children adoptions.

Tables:

• Table 1 Adoptions , by type of adoption. 1960-2011
• Table 2 Total adoptions, intercountry adoptions and stepchildren adoptions, by county. 2011
• Table 3 Adoptions, by type of adoption, sex and age. 2011
• Table 4 Intercountry adopted, by sex, age and previous citizenship. 2011
• Table 5 Stepchildren adoptions . Adoptive parents' relationships to the child. 1970-2011
• Table 6 Stepchildren adopted, by sex and age. 1970-2011